Around The Nation

Published
5:30 am CDT, Wednesday, October 6, 2004

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

$691 million more
sought for victims

WASHINGTON - President Bush asked Congress Tuesday for an additional $691 million to aid victims of hurricanes and other natural disasters as the election-year price tag for recent emergencies surged toward $13 billion. Bush's latest request included damage caused by Hurricane Jeanne, the last of four major hurricanes that lashed Florida and other states in the South and East over the past several months. Congress has already approved $2 billion for hurricane victims, but had yet to act on two other requests totaling $10.2 billion that Bush made last month. Leaders believe lawmakers will approve the remaining $10.9 billion — including Tuesday's request — before they adjourn for the November elections later this week.

Congressman has
lung transplant

WASHINGTON - Rep.
Charlie Norwood
, who has suffered a breathing disorder for more than six years, underwent a lung transplant Tuesday that doctors said was necessary to save his life. The surgery began Tuesday night in
Inova Fairfax Hospital
in Fairfax, Va. His spokesman,
Duke Hipp
, said the procedure was expected to last three to six hours, and Norwood was expected to be hospitalized for two to three weeks. The 63-year-old Georgia Republican probably will not resume his congressional duties for about three months, Hipp said. The fifth-term Congressman was diagnosed in 1998 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which slowly restricts the ability to breathe.

Air Guard releases
more Bush records

WASHINGTON - More than a week after a court-imposed deadline to turn over all records of President Bush's military service, the Texas Air
National Guard
belatedly produced two documents Tuesday that include Bush's orders for his last day of active duty in 1973. The orders show Bush was on "no-fly" status for his last days of duty because he had been grounded almost a year earlier for skipping an annual medical exam. The files, released to
the Associated Press
under a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, are orders for Bush to appear for two stints of active-duty training: a 1971 exercise in Canada and eight days of duty in July 1973. The records released Tuesday are the fifth set of documents related to Bush's Vietnam-era National Guard service to be released in response to the AP lawsuit. The Texas Air National Guard did not explain the delay in releasing the records. Meanwhile, the CBS independent investigation into

Dan Rather
's report critical of Bush's Guard service should probably wait until after Election Day to announce its findings, Viacom co-president
Leslie Moonves
said on Tuesday.

LOUISIANA

Judge strikes down
gay marriage ban

BATON ROUGE - A state judge Tuesday threw out a Louisiana constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, less than three weeks after voters approved it. District Judge
William Morvant
said the amendment was flawed because it had more than one purpose: banning not only gay marriage but also civil unions. Anti-gay marriage groups expressed outrage, and attorneys vowed to appeal.

NEW YORK

Chapman denied
parole for 3rd time

ATTICA - John Lennon's killer will remain in prison for at least two more years after being denied parole Tuesday because of the "extreme malicious intent" he showed in gunning down the former Beatle in 1980.
Mark David Chapman
, 49, was notified of the decision late Tuesday. It was Chapman's third bid for freedom. He was denied parole in 2000 and 2002.